A Whole New World
by roleplay4life
Summary: This is a mindbending, suspenseful novel based on the popular Pokémon of good, evil, and learning to adjust despite what life may throw at us. A real pageturner, with lots of action to please any guy OR girl!
1. Chunk 1

**Chapter One: New House, New Discoveries**

"Okay, gang, we're here."

I opened a sleepy eye at the sound of my mother's voice, and looked through the tinted Window of our '98 Expresso minivan. I sat up, rubbing the sleepiness away as my 16-year-old brother stirred next to me. A gigantic moving truck was parked in front of our car, obstructing my view of the new house. I looked out at an empty street, my spirits falling once again. All the nice Lamborghinis and the rich kids that rode in them were safely tucked away in million-dollar houses, safe from regular, middle class people… like me. Needless to say, I wasn't a Lamborghini.

I was more like a minivan.

At a sports car show.

In Vegas.

In other words, I simply did not fit in here.

Our home was probably the smallest (and cheapest) in Fair Acres, but had still cost my family a fortune. Okay, maybe this would be better than the ghetto part of town we'd used to live in, but not much. Mom and Dad were so excited about moving to a "nice neighborhood" where Aaron and I would have "lots of new friends".

Shyeah, _right._

I felt someone sock me in my shoulder, and jolted from my thoughts.

"C'mon, Christine. We gotta go help unload the truck."

I looked into his bright, blue eyes and wispy blonde hair, and felt the urge to smack him. But I couldn't, because he was the only one who really understood what I was going through. Aaron may have been three years older than me and a complete jerkazoid, but he was my brother.

"Hey, wait up!" I called, hopping out and jogging after him. I peeked around the corner of the truck and spotted him trying to move our couch. I jumped up into the truck, rushing over and grabbing the other end, giving him a wry smile as we backed out. Only God would know how long this day was going to be.

By ten o clock that night, we had nearly the entire house set up. I was checking out my room, organizing my hoard of art and writing supplies. _After this_ I told myself, _I'll draw a picture of Josh and Ashlee, and then start on a story. It'll have a good plot, and lots of suspense. Just like Stephen King. Hopefully that'll take this whole moving thing off my mind… I_ released a sigh, collapsing on my bed. Nothing felt right because nothing_ was_ right. I decided to check out my closet. Looked like a normal closet, except it only had a few clothes, boxes, shoes, huge hole… I froze in mid-thought. Hole? Huge hole? My eyes bugged out, and I stuck my hand in it. This thing had to be massively long! But the bathroom was on the other side, and there was no hole there. Something was definitely fishy here; we didn't pay to get a huge hole in the second-largest bedroom. "MOM!!" I hollered, and she stepped in.

"What, honey?"

"There's a huge hole in my closet."

My father then stepped in, sweaty from the day's work. He frowned, pushing up his glasses tiredly and taking a look at the inside. "There's no hole here."

"Yes there is!" I insisted, waving my hand inside the hole just to prove it to them. Mom looked concerned.  
"Christine, are you feeling alright? You keep whacking your hand against the back of the closet."

"I'm telling the truth!"

Aaron poked his head in, and his jaw dropped. "Dang."

"You can see it?" I asked hopefully, and something in my brother's eyes seemed to flash.

"…No, I just thought it was weird you were… already imagining things on your first day in the house." He was totally lying, but only I could tell. But if I didn't let this go, Mom and Dad would probably send me to a mental institution.

I hesitated, but finally stated, "Yeah, I was probably just imagining it." When my parents had left, Aaron gave me a I-saw-it look. We exchanged slight smiles, and I gave him a little "Good Night" wave. I pulled on my pajamas and slipped into bed. A hole in my closet. That's beyond weird.

**Chapter Two: The Me, The Brother, and the Hole-In-My-Closet**

The next day, around one o clock, Aaron and I were hanging out in my room. I was seated on my bed; Aaron slouched in a beanbag. "So," he said casually, "Whaddaya think of the neighborhood?"

I shrugged indifferently. "I dunno. Seems kind of dull. Not many kids that actually get out and play." He actually laughed a little, looking into my open closet. "That's some hole you got in there." I bounced off my bed, landing on my knees next to him. We stuck our heads in the closet, marveling at that stupid chasm that stuck out like a sore thumb. "Hey, dare ya to stick your head in there," he said with a mischievous grin. I raised an eyebrow, reminding myself once again how stupid he was. "Maybe it's a portal," he added mysteriously. I rolled my eyes, but thought how awesome that would be. I managed to fit my whole head and neck in there, and felt a slight wind coming through.

_That's weird..._ I mused, and then got scared when a light shone through. "Aaron…" My voice was shaking; it felt like I was being pulled into it magnetically.

The hole widened drastically, and in an instant I was dragged into it. I shouted his name much more frantically. What the heck was going on?! Why was I being pulled into my closet, of all things?! No, I wasn't scared, I was terrified. I flipped my body around, swirling down a now multicolored tunnel. I heard a little _zip _and saw my brother tumbling down after me. I snagged his hand; he looked about as frightened as I.

"What did you do?" he shouted accusingly, not letting go, and I wrapped my arm around his neck.

"I don't know, I was just looking in there and I got pulled in!"

"Mom's so gonna kill us…"

"MOM CAN'T SEE IT! SHE'LL NEVER KNOW!" I was crying now. Omigawd, what was happening? This wasn't real, I assured myself. I banged into the side of the passageway we were falling down, and it hurt. Never mind. This was real. Aaron suddenly shouted out, and I looked below us. A light at the end of tunnel! YAY! "Flip around!" I shouted, and grabbed his other hand. We formed a sort of vertical dart, and slipped through the light… only to find ourselves falling twice as rapidly. The wind caught beneath our legs, whipping them out to skydiver-fashion. A summer sun was shining on us against a blue sky, but that didn't make me feel any better. My stomach was still flip-flopping wildly, and I thought I was about to be sick. Aaron's voice tore my from my thoughts:

"Hey, I think we're on Earth!"

"That won't matter if we keep falling; we'll crash to the ground and go SPLAT!"

I crazily reached out with my thoughts, not expecting anything to happen. We were getting closer to the ground, closer to death, closer to – WHOOSH.

Something grabbed me quick around me waist, and I stopped falling. Aaron's 130 pounds fell behind me, nearly ripping my arms from their sockets. My relief quickly washed away when I realized there were gray claws entrapping me around my stomach. The first thought was that we had been trapped in dinosaur times, and I let out a screech, squirming wildly.

"Hey, girl! Chill! Aero's not gonna hurt you."

I looked up, and my jaw dropped down in disbelief. A 17-year-old boy was sitting on top of a huge, almost bird-like creature. It had a large, toothed beak and huge wings; looked a lot like a dinosaur. But that wasn't a dinosaur. It was a Pokémon. Aerodactyl. And that wasn't just any regular 17-year-old. It was one that I knew. "Jeff…Malashok?" I stammered, and Aaron glanced up.

"Hey, quit hittin' on my little… Whattheheck is that? Is that a Pokémon? Whotheheck are you talkin' to?"

Jeff looked about as confused as Aaron and I were. "Who are you and how do you know my first and last name? And why were you skydiving with no parachutes? Don't you have any Pokémon?"

I cleared my throat. "Let us down and I'll explain everything."

The older teenager nodded slowly, and directed his gargantuan Pokémon to the ground. Aaron stepped off first, and I was released from the Aerodactyl's grip and fell into my brother's arms. He was holding me protectively. "Boy, you try anything on my little sister and you're gonna hafta deal with me."

"Aaron… he's fine. Let me go." He let go reluctantly, and I faced Jeff. "Alrighty, first things first. I'm Christine, 13, and this is my older brother Aaron, who's 16. Secondly, we weren't skydiving. We're from Omaha, Nebraska, in the U.S. On, em… that human-and-animal world. There's a portal in my closet… Well, I'm guessing that's what it is… and we kinda slipped through. And we just kept falling until we fell into here." Jeff looked terribly skeptical.

"Oh yeah? That doesn't explain how you know my name."  
"Well, um…" I chewed my lip. How was I supposed to explain that he wasn't real… in my world, at least… and that he had been simply "thought up" like I was a god or something? This was beyond weird. I could tell him I was a psychic, but decided bluntness would be easier: "I know your name, and everything about you, because I created you. You're a character I use in lots of my stories and drawings, and… I guess you're real here. Just not real… in… Nebraska…" I felt a sweat drop go down my neck.

He was still skeptical. Typical Jeff. "Prove it."

"Alright… You grew up in Cerulean City, lived in an orphanage, both your parents died when you were one in a house fire, you used to have really big, nerdy glasses when you were little, you once finger-painted the bathroom in your foster parents' home…" He stared at me with a no-one-was-supposed-to-know-that look. "… And you have clorophobia. Fear of clowns."

Now both Aaron and Jeff were staring at me with stunned disbelief. I forced myself not to smirk at their expressions, and crossed my arms. The little sister, once again, rules the world.

**Chapter Three: A New Friend**

Jeff was looking at me, and cleared his throat. "So you're from the… other world? Animal world?" I nodded slowly, and he sighed distressedly. "I need some R&R…" He pulled out what looked like a strange MP3 player, and Aaron gasped.

"Dude! That thing is awesome! What is it?"

He looked at my brother. "MP9 Player, duh. It's only a fifty-gig, nothing special."

My brother jogged over, a huge grin on his face. As usual, we were in a crisis (practically) and all he could think about was the latest iPod. He looked over the older teen's shoulder at the LCD screen, motioning for him to hand it over.

"Ooo, music, video, phone, GPS… this is amazing!"

"Really? Gee, thanks."

"Mine's only 600 megabytes."

"What year are you two from? The 1800's?" That ticked me off a bit, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Uh… it was January 2007."

"Dang, I didn't know the technology there was _that_ primitive."

"What else do you have?"

"Got the latest Pokédex."

"Lemme see! Ooo, you've got…"

He started naming off all the Pokémon Jeff had in the Dex, marveling at it all. I just rolled my eyes, walking over and sitting on a fallen tree trunk. A small Caterpie crawled over the side, staring at me. I smiled slightly, rolling over onto my stomach and putting out my hand. It crept a bit closer, still cautious.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you. Some think you're just a dumb little Caterpie, but I think you're quite fascinating." I tried to make my voice gentle and soothing, but was already a bit excited. It made a little squeaking noise, inching onto my palm. I giggled, holding it up to my face. "And what's your name?" I inquired, not at all expecting a response.

**_Lori_** a small voice seemed to say into my mind. I blinked, eyes still locked with the Caterpie's. It tilted its head.

_**Lori,**_ the same voice repeated. **_That's my name._**

My jaw dropped open; now it looked nervous.

_**Did I do something? Oh no, Mommy said to be nice to humans. I didn't mean to be rude, I really didn't, I just… **_

She looked on the verge of tears, and I shook my head, flabbergasted. "No, no, you didn't do anything, it's just… um…" _I've never spoken to a freakin' Pokémon using telepathy,_ I completed in my head.

**_You haven't? Really?_**

Now it was official freak-out time. "You heard that?" I managed to stammer.

_**We're linked. Not a lot of humans can do that, but a few can, usually if they have psychic abilities. But once one of us looks away, it usually breaks. Do you have psychic abilities? It doesn't feel like you do.**_

Lori had the absolute cutest face when she was talking or listening, even if what she was saying was terribly confusing. Having a Caterpie able to read your mind was a bit strange, but I just loved it. I looked away, and it felt like a thin rubber band snapping between us. Lori was attempting to make her way up to my shoulder, and our eyes locked again.

_**You need shorter arms, Christine,**_ she whined.

I blinked, then realized she had probably figure out my name. _Sorry, Charlie. They'll only get longer._

**_But I'll be a Butterfree by then and then…_** Her voice trailed off. **_I can stay with you, right? At least for a little bit?_**

I considered answering with a "no", thinking about getting back home. I suddenly felt a bit homesick, knowing that Aaron and I may never get back. I didn't even know all that much about Pokémon, or training, or anything in this world. Then again, I may as well enjoy my stay.

_Okay. That'd be fine with me._

**_Yay! Mommy won't care; she says I need a trainer. But I'm already a big girl. In a couple levels, I'll be ready to make my cocoon to be a Metapod._**

I grinned at my new… friend, I guessed she would be. i Looks like my golden retriever won't be the only non-human I'm friends with. /i But then it hit me like a speeding bullet. If the things people wrote on Earth became reality in parallel universes, then that meant that Krista, Tobias, Rask, Ashlee, Damien, Dallin, Todd, Kim, and Josh- I froze in mid-thought. Josh. In the last story I had written, Team Rocket was hunting down Josh on account of high treason. And I couldn't just pick up a pen and paper and change whatever was going to happen… Well, as far as I knew. Had I put my characters in a bigger problem than they could handle? The thought haunted me slightly, just for a minute. I scolded myself for making their lives more difficult than even i I /i could imagine. All I could do was hope and pray that my visit here wouldn't be a complete disaster.

**Chapter Four: New Place, New Things**

"Christine!"

I blinked, and looked over at my brother, who had his hands on his hips.

"You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Now, come on, I've been calling you for the last few minutes. Jeff's gonna take us into the nearest town and show us around."

Lori prodded my cheek with one of her back legs, and I looked at her.

**_Who's that?_**

_Just my older brother, Aaron. _

He was looking at me shoulder. "Hey, what is that thi-"

"Caterpie. Her name's Lori." I interrupted.

_He doesn't know much about Pokémon. _

I stood, careful not to send Lori tumbling off my shoulder, and walked over to Jeff, who was waiting for me. "So, where to now?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could head into Cerulean, since that's where we're nearest."

My face immediately lit up at the thought of going into the largest city in Kanto. It couldn't be much different than New York City or something like that, only more… interesting. "Can I take Firehorse?" Firehorse was his Rapidash, second Pokémon he had acquired. He started to take out a crimson Pokéball, and then paused, eyeing me.

"You know way too much for your own good." He released the Rapidash, and Lori let out a squeal. She shot a String Shot in its face, and it whinnied in alarm, mane flaring.

"Oh my gosh, that was not supposed to happen! I'm so sorry!!" I glared at the Caterpie on my shoulder.

**_Sorry. Instinct._**

Jeff touched the Rapidash's neck, and it looked at its trainer. It calmed down, and I could tell he was telling it about me. Firehorse's mane stopped flaring so violently, and she calmed down enough to face me.

**_You have an interesting past, human. But it would seen you would know a bit more about keeping one's Pokémon under an amount of control. But I won't be prejudice; hop on._**

The voice was that of a young woman's, and it echoed in my mind the same way Lori's did. Only it was more pronounced, since she'd had quite a bit of practice with Jeff. I managed to hop on with a bit of help from Aaron. Lori jumped off my shoulder and onto Jeff's, still a bit nervous around the Rapidash. Riding bareback was a tad more difficult – and uncomfortable – than with a saddle, but not too bad. She had an almost replicated figure of the average horse, only a bit leaner. I nudged her in the side, almost regretting it as my muddy tennis shoe created a mark on her white hairs. She started off at a quick trot, almost a canter, and I had to balance myself as not to fall off. I nudged her again, and we went faster yet, now near a speedy gallop

**_Want to go faster?_** she inquired dangerously.

"Uh…"

**_I'll take that as a yes. Hang on!_**

"Wha-?! WAH!!"

The Rapidash put on a sudden burst of speed, nearly jolting me off. I had to lean forward racehorse-style just so I wouldn't be blasted by the wind. I dared to glance back, and almost started to gape. Her hooves were barely touching the ground, a trail of smoke behind us. _If we go any faster,_ I thought rather excitedly, _we'll be flying! _Still, the ride was exhilarating, at the least. We had to be going at least sixty miles per hour, faster than even the best racehorse at the Aksarben arena.

"Hi Christine!"

I quickly looked over, and saw my brother and Jeff on top of Aero, only a few feet away and up. We finally reached the outskirts of the city, and Firehorse slowed down, finally stopping. There was sweat beaded around her neck and forehead, but she had obviously loved the ride.

_**Whew! Last time I had to go that fast, Rockets were chasing us with machine guns and tanks.**_

Her trainer obviously heard that, and he laughed. "Hey, you liked it."

**_Not as much as I did today. But I didn't reach the eighty-per-hour mark like I did that day…_**

I was slipping off, and fell on my butt. "You were going_ eighty miles per hour?!" A_aron had already dismounted the Aerodactyl and was helping me up.

"Different than that cheesy American TV show, eh?" he commented with a laugh. I smirked, and raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't actually think it was like that, right?"

"Well…"

I brushed the thought away, and smiled, looking at the city before me. It was a lot like New York City: restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores, Pokécenters… I paused at that sight. Whoa, cool. Pokécenters. I knew it was kind of stupid; it was just like your average clinic, but still. And the people! Most of them, I found after looking around a bit, weren't even trainers. Most just kept Pokémon with them as pets or companions. Jeff had swapped Aero and Firehorse for Perro, his Arcanine.

"Come on, I'll give you a little tour," he offered, and I found myself grinning. Maybe getting sucked into a parallel universe wasn't as bad as I had imagined…

This place was amazing, to be short.

I knew Cerulean was one of the larger cities, that Jeff and Ashlee grew up here, and that was just about it. After a tour of the supermarkets, Pokécenters, and a few of the gyms, I was about to convince myself this was just a dream. The technology was even more astonishing than seeing hundreds of Pokémon everywhere. The cell phones weren't cell phones, they were all-in-one databases. Most of the Pokédexes had several features on them and, by far, the most popular small PC in Kanto. There was only one thing wrong: I couldn't exchange any of my money. Neither could Aaron.

"Okay, I'd like to exchange this American money." He was sliding four twenty-dollar bills underneath to the lady at the exchange counter. She looked at it strangely.

"Where did you say you were from?"

"America. Nebraska."

"What region?"

"Um… North America."

"No, sir._ Region._"

"Look, lady, we don't call them regions, we call them _continents._ Now are ya gonna give me my proper amount or not?" He was making her a little upset, I could tell. I grabbed his sleeve, and hissed,

"Come on, Aaron. Let's go!"

"Dude, we gotta have cash."

I rolled my eyes, and he snatched his twenties, giving the lady a rude look. We walked out, meeting Jeff outside.

"Whoa, what happened?" he asked.

"Apparently they don't do universal currencies…"


	2. Chunk 2

Chapter Five: Trouble… Already

**Chapter Five: Trouble… Already! **

After a few minutes, Aaron was over the "poor customer service" and distracted by another topic of concern. As we were walking up the route to the Sea Cottage, a thought hit me:

"WHERE'S LORI?!" I exclaimed, suddenly dropping all my worries. My first thought was she had been eaten, my second thought that she'd been captured… Jeff looked concerned.

"Christine…"

"What if she got eaten by an Arcanine?" I looked at Perro. "You didn't eat her, did you?"  
"_Christine…_"

"You did, didn't you!" The Arcanine looked surprised I would accuse him of that, and I pried open his jaws. "Lori!! Are you in there?"

"_Christine!_" Jeff smacked me across the face, and I stopped hyperventilating. He was holding a Great Ball in front of my face. "Your Caterpie fell asleep on your shoulder when we got into Wal-Mart. She almost slipped off, and I had an extra Great Ball, so I put her in there."

I looked at the ball, then him, and then at my shoes. "…Sorry. For freaking out, you know."

He smirked a little, and sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you. The connection between a Pokémon and its human companion is beyond comprehension. It's been that way for as long as humans have been around."

"So, what, are you all vegetarian or something?" Aaron asked, and Jeff laughed.

"Of course not! We eat Miltanks and poultry and seafood and stuff like that."

My stomach churned slightly, though I wasn't exactly sure why. It couldn't have been any different than eating a fish or a cow. And they ate each other, obviously… I shoved the thought away, feeling sick. "Okay, next subject. Could you tell me a little about the history here? Like, the culture and past? You've got to remember, I don't know much of anything."

Jeff smiled, and nodded. "Sure, why not."

I listened intently as he talked about everything that had happened in the last two thousand years, give or take. I found it interesting that several of the "legendaries" weren't one-of-a-kind after all. Their breeds were dying, and were only about ten of each of the legendary dogs and birds left in the entire world. The ones most commonly seen were the guards of certain places, the strongest of their kind; the others stayed hidden on islands or in caves. A few had only one of their types, and as far as he knew, they were Mew, Rayquaza, and Jirachi. There had been four global wars, all of which had nearly destroyed entire regions. As with any world, the causes were from greed and insanity. But I supposed one of the more positive things were that pollution here was much lower here than on Earth, and the global literacy rate was around 98.5. Not to mention the fact that when something out of the ordinary happened, there weren't fifty million newspapers at the scene. Apparently weird things were… common here, to say the least.

Before long, we had arrived at the doorstep of the Sea Cottage, also the home of Ashlee's uncle, Professor Bill. Jeff knocked on the door, and it flew open. On the inside stood a man of about forty years, with dark hair and dark eyes. He looked frenzied, maybe a bit scared. "Office is closed today, come tomorrow," the man said rushedly, slamming the door in our faces. We exchanged worried looks, and pushed through the entryway. The professor had his ear on a communicator, which I supposed was a telephone.

"Is this Cerulean Police Department? Okay, good. Yes, it's my niece, Ashlee, she's been kidnapped… Yes, the Pokémorph. … What? Oh, sorry. I believe the felons were from that Team Rocket; they're never up to any good. They stormed in, and threatened to bomb the place if I didn't hand her over… No, I didn't, I told them to get lost, and they clipped some sort of bracelet on her…. I believe the three headed south for Saffron in a black helicopter. Thank you for all your support, chief. Bye." He clicked off the phone and groaned, banging his head on the desk. Jeff, Aaron, and I were just staring at him, stunned into silence. Bill finally glanced up, sighing and rubbing his temples. "I suppose the three of you heard that…" he mumbled, watching us. We all nodded slowly, still in disbelief.

"I thought there were only two Rockets," Aaron said suspiciously, and I smacked my head.

"How many times have I told you that there is a 500-plus member army!?" I exclaimed. Now was not the time for Aaron to be stupid. I realized he knew even less than I did, and decided to not get into a fight with him. Not here, and definitely not now. "So," I said, starting to feel a little hysterical, pacing back and forth, "they actually got her this time, didn't they? Ha. I had actually hoped they had given up. They got their filthy, smuggling, snitching, dirty hands on her. Those…" I went on to say some things about them I would have later regretted and washed my mouth with soap for. But now, I didn't really care. I finally realized ranting on and on about them wouldn't do anything. "So, how are we going to 'save' her? They only want her for one thing, and it's pretty obvious." Jeff was looking at me strangely, as if surprised I knew why they had been after her for nine months.

"What?" my brother asked, and I started to answer, but stopped myself. Oops, I thought. That wasn't supposed to happen. I remembered he hadn't read any of my stories about her or watched me role-play, so he wouldn't have known. Ashlee had a secret, and that secret was supposed to be kept. Only a few people in this world, maybe twenty-five, knew of that secret. This wasn't your average secret; it was a secret that could mean life or death for this 16-year-old.

Because besides being a Vulpix Pokémorph, she was not your average girl.

She had an _extra_ ability.

**Chapter 6: A Secret Revealed **

I inhaled deeply, looking at Jeff. _Oh man, what should I do!_ I thought desperately. I cleared my throat loudly, averting his attention, and I nudged my head in Aaron's direction. He frowned, confused, and I groaned, taking him outside.

"What are you asking?" he asked.

"I was wondering how okay you'd be about me telling my older brother about Ashlee's biggest secret."

Jeff stared at me in disbelief. "_What?!_ Tell him? Are you insane? I don't even know the guy!"

"I know, I know, it's just… He may not be a perfect angel, but he'd never betray us. He'd rather die."

"What would I rather die for?" Aaron had stepped out onto the porch, and Jeff gave me a quick glare.

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"Actually… I – WE – have something to tell you. It's kind of important that you know why we're going to go save Ashlee before you help us. And so you don't freak out should anything unusual happen…

"About 9 months ago, Jeff completed the Hoenn region, and he and Ashlee decided to go back to Cerulean to celebrate before he went on to the Elite Four. So they got together with a bunch of other trainers for a little outdoors party. No hurt, you figure. But then the sky starting turning really weird colors, and they were _attacked_ by probably a hundred cloned Beedrills and Mankeys. Together, they managed to defeat them all using their strongest Pokémon.

"Yet, how often do clones just come out of nowhere? Had to be created, no? And, where to look for suspicious activity than a suspicious-looking sky? That's where they went. And who should be up there other than the Clone of Mew... Mewtwo." I felt my stomach drop at Aaron's baffled face, but decided to continue anyways. "He hadn't been seen for quite some time, and definitely not in the state of anger that he was in. Obviously, he wanted revenge on something, or some_one_. They tried to fight him off, but weren't strong enough. Ashlee was knocked off of her Fearow, and she plummeted to the ground. _This is the end,_ Was her last thought. And I had good reason." I looked at the ground, then at Jeff for him to continue. He nodded, saying…

"I figured that was the last of Ashlee Grant, my best friend since I was only five years old. But, being the logical type I am, I knew that I'd never see her alive again. The next day, I ventured into the Unknown Dungeon in an attempt to clear my head. Instead of finding peace and quiet, however, I found Mewtwo. My first instinct was to run and never come back, but he was in a most unusual state: Broken. Bloody. Bruised. Could thank Giovanni for that, he later explained, and the high-tech shock band that activates with every heartbeat. You can imagine how angry I was, but I couldn't just leave him there for Rocket to pick up when he was fainted. So I took it upon myself to help him out and get it off. My thank-you ended up being thrown against the wall psychically, but only so I wasn't blown to pieces when the shock band exploded massively. Mewtwo then paused, and directed me to meet him in Cinnibar, in that abandoned laboratory.

"So I got on my Aerodactyl, and snuck into one of the rooms, where I figured he was. Turns out Mew's clone is a computer nerd." Jeff broke into a grin, just for a second. "He started doing some really strange things with a machine, and injected some sort of fluid into her dead body. Beyond weird, I'd think. I wasn't sure just then how, but after a few minutes, Ashlee was sitting up on a lab table, looking as good as new. The only thing different about her was a small scar on her right wrist." 

I cleared my throat, and he signaled for me to continue. "Well, that wasn't until the next morning, when she woke up and found out she was levitating in mid-air. Then she found out she could lift things with her mind. She was used to weird things happening, considering she had been a Vulpix 'morph since the age of five, but not like this. Then she realized that she could transform... into Mewtwo. Which just about made her faint." 

Jeff sighed. "Ever since Rocket found out about her, they've been on our tail. It's simmered down, but not much. Ashlee's gotten pretty good control over her abilities, but we still have to be cautious around just about everyone." 

Aaron was staring jaw-dropped at us. "Isn't Mewtwo the deranged clone from the first movie?" I shot a glare at my brother.

"They made a _movie_ about _Mewtwo_ in your world?!"

I chuckled, starting to sweat. "Well, I guess I forgot to mention the fact that there's a corny TV show about this world every Saturday morning on Kid's WB… Not to mention eight or nine movies…"

He shook his head in disbelief. "Crazy Earthlings…" Jeff muttered. "Well, we actually need to get you guys some bikes. Come on, we can get some at Trek, or Scheel's, or something like that…"

Turned out not everything in this world was technologically advanced.

The bicycles were almost exactly the same as the ones on Earth, only a little more comfortable. They were one of the most popular forms of transportation, especially in Kanto. Aaron tried out his ride first, and seemed satisfied.

"It's… um… comfy."

I tried mine out next, and it _was_ quite comfortable. I looked at Jeff, who tossed us helmets and put his own on.

"Neither of you will be much good if you crack your heads open."

My brother grumbled something, but I snapped mine on without complaint. No, I wasn't much of a risk-taker at all.

"Lead the way," I said, and Jeff pedaled down the southern path to Saffron. 

About an hour later, we arrived at the northern edge of the city. Saffron was smaller than Cerulean; less crowded and nicer people. It reminded me a lot of Omaha, my _real_ home. I spotted a house much like our new one, and Aaron noticed it as well. We looked at it longingly for a moment, and then pedaled on. The sun was close to setting in the western sky. I glanced at my new wristwatch from Wal-Mart.

"IT IS EIGHT FORTY-FIVE," an electronic voice announced. I pedaled a bit faster, catching up to Jeff.

"Hey, are we gonna stop at a hotel or something before the sun sets?"

He looked up, but kept his eyes on the darkening road.

"Alright. I don't see any hurt in it. I actually have a cousin who lives here."

I thought about the few family members he had, and couldn't recall if any of them lived in Saffron. He turned into the driveway of a bland-looking house, dropping his bike and going up to the door. The yard looked like any yard on Earth, with small trees, grass, and a few flowers. Aaron and I dropped our bikes off to the side of the garage, hanging the helmets on the handlebars. A woman poked her head around the side, smiling, and waved at us to come in.

"Didn't Mom always warn us about stranger safety?" Aaron teased, and I rolled my eyes.

"Dude, even Jeff's practically a stranger."

**Chapter Seven: The Hideout**

When Aaron and I first stepped inside and saw the interior of the house, we breathed, "Cool." Which it was very much so. There was a high-definition, flat screen plasma television, a stereo system, and the coolest-looking computers and game systems. A black leather couch with cup holders and MP3 holders sat against the wall in front of the T.V. The home had a homey yet still high-tech feeling to it. The woman who had let us in cleared her throat, and my attention snapped back.

"Oh! Sorry, Miss. Your house is incredible; we've never seen anything like it."

She smiled rather pleasantly; I was glad to know she wasn't too upset. "I'm glad you and your… brother, I'm assuming, like it. I'm Jeff's aunt; you may call me Marcia. Feel free to look around. It's not much, but all a home needs is a heart, no?" Marcia waved us off, and turned to her nephew. I was a bit curious what she was going to talk to him about, but was quickly distracted by the rest of the house. Aaron was checking out Jeff's room, and gasped.

"DUDE, there's a freakin' Playstation in here, but it's totally awesome! It's a PS7 or something!"

I gave him a look, but crouched down next to him. It was pretty incredible, I had to admit. It was a sleek silver color, about the size of a Wii gaming system, and didn't require any sort of CDs. I wondered if it ran on MP3 files…

"Like it?"

I looked up at Jeff, startled from my thoughts. "Yeah. You have an… um… room here. It's… nice and… tidy." I blushed, embarrassed from being so transfixed on a game system. He smirked.

"Right. I'll show you Todd's room."

"TODD?!" I was beaming now, ecstatic about meeting his photography-nerd cousin. Well, I didn't think he was a nerd, just kind of klutzy. We followed him into one of the bedrooms. A 14-year-old boy sat on a bed, staring at the T.V. His mouth was dropped open, and seemed to have not noticed us. _What is he watching, a soap opera?_ I though to myself, and looked at the screen. A woman newscaster was standing in front of the Sea Cottage back in Cerulean…

"…There has just been a report of a kidnapped 16-year-old girl here in Cerulean. Her name is Ashlee Claire Grant, and was last seen here at her uncle's house. He tells us a group of uniformed Team Rocket members took her away in a black helicopter. They are suspected to be stationed just south of Saffron. If you have any information regarding this incident, dial 555-STOP. Laura Klein, Action 3 News…"

The screen went black, and the boy finally noticed us. "Hi, Jeff; guys. Guess it happened, huh? She got kidnapped and made the news." His voice sounded shaken, but had a sense of dead humor to it. Jeff nodded.

"We found out right after it happened. Todd, this is Aaron and Christine. Christine knows everything about Ashlee, so she and her brother are going to help rescue her." He went on to tell him about everything that day, starting with Aaron and I falling from the sky. By the time he was done, Todd was staring at me.

"So you know _everything? _"

I let out a dry laugh. "Yeah, except where she is, how we're going to save her, and what Rocket has planned."

"So… can we hang here tonight?" That was from Aaron. He appeared impressed by the collection of cameras Todd had on the walls and shelves. There were quite a lot of pictures in frames, including several of legendaries. Todd shrugged, and supposed it would be all right. I plopped down on his bed; it felt like a cross between memory foam and a waterbed.

"This is **comfy**! What's it made of?"

"Gelory foam, of course."

"Man, I could lay here all night."

He laughed, this time not so strained. "Nah, you guys get sleeping bags." He pointed at the closet. Jeff was already rummaging through the assortment of boxes and clothes, dragging out three sleeping bags. He threw one at me, and one at Aaron.

"Which reminds me we have a mission to accomplish tomorrow, and I don't want either of you falling asleep. So hit the sack." 

I slipped into my cozy sleeping bag, and scooted up against Aaron. I felt a little better now, finally getting some rest. I had let Lori out of her Pokéball, and she was curled up next to my pillow. I found myself wondering what Ashlee was going through right now. I shut my eyes, but could now picture her in my mind's eye. After a while, I slipped into a half-decent sleep….

_A few miles away, in an underground Rocket base…_

"You're not cooperating, Miss Grant…"

"Oh yeah? Well you're not the one chained to the wall!"

Ashlee let out another cry of agony as pain circulated at light speed through her veins once again. Tears stung her auburn-colored eyes, spilling. She blinked through the tears, and scowled at the man in front of her. He was wearing an orange suit, clean-cut shoes, and had a rather satisfied smirk on his face. "What are you up to, Giovanni?" she managed to hiss. The name made her tongue want to spit it out.

"Interesting you should ask," he replied smoothly. "I'm sure you've figured out by now that the collar around your neck prevents you from using any of your abilities. I like to call it 'training device' for Pokémon, but it works just as well on Pokémorphs."

Ashlee growled deep in her throat, but had no energy left to attempt to break free again. Her legs weren't chained, but her arms and waist were. She hated this feeling; she felt entrapped and closed in. Truth was, she was horrified. She'd never been captured until now, and happened to be claustrophobic. Which Giovanni was well aware of by now. She couldn't even try to contact Jeff, or she'd get another mind-wheeling shock. Sweat was beading at her hairline, and she forced herself to calm down a bit. The pain resided slightly, and she managed to get a few of her thoughts together.

"I am going to ask you to elaborate on that last sentence," she requested calmly, and he raised an eyebrow, rather annoyed she was practically mocking him.

"The plan is quite simple. Now that we've got our hands on you, you can either turn to Team Rocket, or we will force you to turn as one of us. And from there… anything's possible."

Ashlee stared at him in disbelief. This couldn't be another one of his world domination plans, could it? Considering all of those had failed… including Mewtwo… She then remembered his memory had been wiped of that first creation.

"Haven't you attempted to take over the world enough times?" She was careful not to mention Mewtwo; hopefully he didn't know. Giovanni chuckled at her.

"Oh, I wouldn't call it 'world domination', Miss Grant… I call it, 'a plan to succeed'. As I am sure you are well aware, the Clone of Mew didn't turn out the way we had planned. But with you… we can be great."

Ashlee swallowed, not sure how to reply. How had he remembered Mewtwo? This was going to be worse than she had thought. He pressed a button, and the chains suddenly released, dropping her to the floor.

"Think of my request overnight. I shall wait only until morning for an answer,"

Giovanni said smoothly, and the lights shut off. She watched him leave, and rubbed her sore wrists. She knew she'd never turn to Rocket... Would she? Ashlee rubbed the collar, and winced. Frankly, she didn't want to know what this thing could really do...


	3. Chunk 3

Chapter Five: Trouble… Already

**Chapter Eight: Discovery**

_The Next Day…_

"GOOD MORNING CHRISTINE. GOOD MORNING CHRISTINE. GOOD MORN-"

"_Shut up!_" I shouted at my watch, groaning.

"THIS COMMAND IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH…"

"Okay, please be quiet." To my surprise, the watch stopped beeping and telling me good morning. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sat up as a wave of memories seemed to come over me. I spotted Lori sleeping peacefully beside my pillow. I was glad to see my little Caterpie alright, but it just made me all too aware of the fact I'd probably never get back to Earth. Lori yawned, stretching her many legs.

_**Morning already? But it's only six A.M!**_

"And I have a mission to go on with these two, and you're coming with us."

Her head perked up. _**I am? Oh, boy! Where are we going?**_

I almost smiled. "A Team Rocket hideout just south of here." The tiny Caterpie was staring at me with wide eyes now.

_**R-rocket? But… why?**_

"We have to save Ashlee, remember?"

_**Oh, yeah. But-**_

I laughed a little. "Don't worry. Nothing too bad could happen." Lori still looked as skeptical as ever.

_**Okay, I'll go. I am completely trusting you on this one.**_

"Good. Now wait here while I get ready…" 

I found myself pulling on a pair of jean capris and a teal-colored shirt in the bathroom. It wouldn't have been so strange if they didn't belong to Todd's sister, and was the same outfit I had once drawn her with. Kim was modeled after myself, except she had brighter hair and a cockier attitude. I looked in the bathroom mirror for a long time, surveying the outfit. Nothing seemed different about my appearance, except I was wearing one of my character's clothes. I sighed, pulling my hair back into a ponytail and smoothing it out. This day was going to be perhaps stranger than the one before it… Someone knocked loudly on the door, and I was startled from my thoughts. I opened it, and saw Aaron standing outside the bathroom.

"Hey, other people need to shower."

I smirked, and gathered my things, heading out. Jeff was sitting on a leather couch in the living room, munching on a grilled cheese sandwich and drinking a cup of coffee. Lori was looking into his cup over his shoulder, trying to figure out what was in it. He glanced up at me.

"Go ahead and drop your stuff in Kim's room. She's out camping anyways… There's a whole bunch of food and such in the kitchen; help yourself."

I dumped all my things onto her bed and headed into the kitchen. I walked over to the coffeepot, and blinked. It was flashing 'MAKE YOUR SELECTION: STARBUCKS, MJ JAVA, CRANE COFFEE'.

"Um… Starbucks?"

'WHICH KIND?' the screen now read, and scrolled through several types of gourmet coffee.

"Vanilla Latte," I requested. _Aunt Bette would love this!_ I thought.

'PROCESSING…' Moments later, a steaming mug was sitting on the counter next to the coffeepot. _Cool._

After an adequate breakfast and two cups of the best coffee ever, I was ready for a mission. Jeff motioned for Aaron and I to follow him outside, and we found ourselves in front of a shed.

"What's this?" Aaron asked as Jeff fiddled with the lock on the door.

"Our I.C.E. stash."

"Huh?"

" 'In case of emergency', you know. And I believe this qualifies as an emergency." Jeff rummaged through the shed, and then tossed me what looked like a pen. I gave him a questioning look.

"It's a multi-purpose tool. Laser, ballpoint pen, whistle, and lip gloss."

"Lip gloss?"

"It used to be Ashlee's. You know she wasn't always a tomboy." He then handed Aaron a pocketknife with keys hanging on it. Aaron wondered what the keys were for, but he just smiled and went back to the piles of junk in the shed. I spotted him pull a shotgun from the heap and stick it in his pocket.

"Aren't guns banned in large cities?" I blurted, and he jumped, surprised I spotted him.

"Well, see, it's not even loaded. I use it for… 'encouragement' purposes. The only thing in it is air." He actually looked a bit guilty, but still didn't take it out. Jeff shook his head. "Never mind. Chances are we won't even need it. Let's take the bikes; I think the hideout's in the forest."

After a couple hours, we had made it into the forest. None of us had spotted any sign of Team Rocket, not that we were expecting them to just show up. I finally stopped pedaling and leaned my bicycle against a tree. "It's no use, they're nowhere near here," I moaned hopelessly. Unfortunately, Jeff wouldn't give up until Armageddon.

"I know she's here, I can feel it."

Aaron coughed loudly. "You can _feel_ it?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Well…"

"Hey, guys. Quit arguing and see if we can get something done here," I said loudly, a little annoyed. Lori was napping on my helmet, and slipped off and onto the ground.

_**Ouch! I think I hit a rock or something.**_

I looked at her, and knelt on the ground. "That's no rock, it looks like a pipeline." Jeff jogged over, also taking a gaze at it.

"A pipeline? That's weird. Looks more like a handle in the middle of a forest…" He tried turning it, and to our amazement, a vast gap in the ground was exposed. The lever seemed to be connected to a round, steel door, which we lifted out. "…And I don't think this is your average manhole." We stared down into it, Aaron now by us as well.

"Aaron, you go first," I suggested, and he did a double-take.

"What?! Why me?"

"Because you're the risk-taker, and nothing bad ever happens to you. You never get caught."

"Well…"

"I'll give you five bucks if we get out of here alive."

"Done." He felt for an edging, and located a ladder to catch his footing. He glanced down rather nervously, and started down. I went after him, and Jeff went last. It didn't go down very far, but there wasn't any lighting down here. We found ourselves in a hallway, with just one sign on the wall. It read:

**WARNING TO INTRUDERS :****  
THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!  
VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED! **

"Wow. They really mean business," I whispered, glancing around.

Jeff nodded. "We'll have to be extra careful. I think this is one of their largest bases. Imagine what would happen if the police knew about everything they were doing." He let out his Arcanine, and we started carefully down the hallway. There was a fork at the end, and we had to decide who was going where. Jeff suggested, "How about I'll go right, Aaron can go left, and you back us up, considering you know about a lot of their tactics and such."

I almost objected, but he offered to leave his Espeon, Sunshine, with me. His Umbreon went off with Aaron, and I watched them go their separate ways.

_**Don't worry, I'm pretty sure they'll get her out of here okay,**_ Sunshine assured. I just hoped she was right. Lori had fallen asleep on my shoulder, and I kept my eye on the hallway. Just when I thought everything was alright, I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I swore in my head, and the Espeon next to me bristled. I flattened myself against the wall, hearing the footsteps coming down the corridor.

_**Do you have a plan?**_ Lori asked shakily.

_I do now,_ I replied, which was partially true. I strode out into the middle of the hallway, and the Rocket froze in her steps, whipping out a shotgun and pointing it threateningly at me.

"Who are you and what is your business here?" she demanded.

"I was hired by Giovanni. He has asked for my assistance…" I said smoothly. This was the most insane plan ever, but it could work.

She cocked her gun, and I put my hands up. "Why does he need you?"

"Because I am a psychic." I let that sink in; she seemed to be half-buying it. "I feel a negative presence in the room…"

She slowly lowered her gun, and whipped me around, handcuffing me. "I'll let the Boss determine if that's true or not. Come on." My stomach did a flip, but I didn't let my fear show. The Rocket led me through a locked door, and down yet another hall. All I knew is that this was either really good or really bad.

**Chapter Nine: Time to Improvise! **

_**Elsewhere in the base…**_

_  
"Hey Aaron. You see anything?"_

_  
"Nope. Did you?"_

_  
"Nothing. Let's grab Christine and try to find some other place…" He looked over in the hallway where I had been. "Christine?" The two boys exchanged confused glances, and Jeff pulled out what looked like a key, and started on the locked door that was between the two rooms._

_  
"What are you doing?"_

_  
"I'm trying to get this lock picked. I think she was kidnapped…"_

_  
"WHAT?! MY LITTLE SISTER GOT-"_

_  
He smacked his hand over Aaron's mouth, shushing him. "If you scream that loudly again, she won't be the only one kidnapped! She seems like a smart enough person; I'm sure she's got a plan." Jeff was looking at the door beside them. There was an enormous padlock the size of his fist on it, but the lock was ancient; it still used a key. "Great. No key, no way to see what's behind this door." He knocked on it and listened as it echoed slightly. "It leads to a hallway… But how to get past it?" _

_  
Aaron stifled a chuckle, reaching in his back pocket and pulling out a wallet. There was a safety pin clipped onto it, and he moved in front of Jeff, removing the safety pin. "All the technology in the world can't beat the pick-locking genius of a safety pin." He got down on his knee so he was looking up into the keyhole, and worked the end of the pin into the lock. After a minute or so, the mechanism unlocked with a satisfying 'click'. Jeff was staring in disbelief as Aaron clipped the safety pin back on and threw off the lock. "C'mon, let's blow this joint."  
"Huh?"_

_  
"Never mind. We've got girls to rescue."_

The Rocket, whose name I had learned was Jan, stopped at a door at the end of the hallway. She banged her first against it loudly, a bit impatient. "Boss, you've got a… visitor," she hollered. I shifted my feet uncomfortably, and looked at Sunshine and Lori.

_Guys, try to go find Jeff and Aaron. And FAST !_I said silently to the two. The Espeon nodded, Lori wriggling onto her head, and padded off silently. I glanced up as the door swing open, and found myself face-to-face with a man of about forty-two years. He had a clean-cut look, but the iciest stare that could send shivers up anyone's spine. I knew instantly that this man was none other than the CEO of the infamous Team Rocket:  
Giovanni.

He gave me an odd look after addressing the Sergeant with a nod, and the first words that tumbled out of my mouth were not a greeting, yet about his… outfit:

"You know, that orange suit just doesn't go well with your skin tone. I'd try a blue or black one, okay? It doesn't take a psychic to see that your designer has bad taste." I actually smiled warmly in response to his dumbfounded, almost disgusted expression.

"Sergeant," he said carefully, "who is this who questions my attire?" I managed to swallow every ounce of my fear while not averting my eyes from his.

Her eye twitched slightly. "Her name is Christine, and she claims to be a psychic you have called upon."

"Actually," I said quickly, "I had a vision that you were going to ask for me. That there was a certain someone you need me to… read." I was getting desperate now, combining my 'Psych' with 'The Dead Zone'.

Giovanni watched me closely, and then stepped away from the entrance. "Step into my office. Jan, uncuff this… child."

I almost glared at being called a child, but was grateful to have my wrists freed. I rubbed them slightly, and proceeded to walk over to his desk. The office was bare, besides a desk, two chairs, and an array of technical devices.

"So," he continued smoothly, "you knew of where I would be." I nodded, trying to look as professional as possible. "You also knew what I would require of you." I shook my head.

"You see, sir, my visions are vague, at best. It's as if there is a Dead Zone." Now I was quoting my favorite book. I was again thankful that Stephen King lived and published on Earth and not here. Suddenly, the way inspiration strikes a writer, an idea hit me. I could use him to get information on Ashlee! "But I'm sure if you explain to me your most recent plans or missions I could be of some assistance."

He crossed his arms, leaning back in his office chair. "Very well. Our latest project is #1079. The original plan was to convince it, without force, to become a member and perhaps work together with Team Rocket. However, 1079 failed to cooperate and we were forced to turn to… another plan."

My stomach did a somersault, and I swallowed nervously. "This… project… is a Pokémorph, correct? Vulpix?"

Giovanni was still watching me carefully. "…Yes. I have worked together with my scientists, and we have found a way to basically change 1079's personality. It currently has no memory and a slightly altered appearance." A mischievous grin spread across the face, and I felt like smacking him and telling him to go to you-know-where. "It was formerly known as turning one 'Shadow', but that was five years ago. Technology has advanced greatly."

I was trying to keep myself from slapping him. "So, basically, she's under mind-control?"

"That's a harsh way to put it, but, yes. 1079 is currently recovering from the process and is basically unconscious."

"Alright. How do I fit into this?"

He raised an eyebrow curiously, and took out a key ring. He removed a key, and set it on top of the desk. "Whatever you need to do."

I almost grinned, and grabbed the key.

"1079 is in room #111. Might I remind you that traitors will be dealt with accordingly." He looked at his watch, and pressed a few buttons. "You have twenty minutes. After that time, you will report back to me with any information you have."

I nodded, gripping the key, and walked swiftly out of the office, glad to be away.

I had twenty minutes to save a life.

What a nightmare.

**Chapter Ten: Rescue! **

I was sprinting down the hallway now, racing against the clock. I felt kind of like Jack Bauer from "24", which was a pretty awesome feeling. I was so wrapped up in that thought; I wasn't watching where I was going. I slammed hard into a body, and nearly fell backwards. "Don't-hurt-me-I'm-just-a-passerby!" I blurted frantically, curling up into a protective ball and squeezing my eyes shut.

"Christine?"

I looked up at the familiar voice, and found myself facing Aaron and Jeff. "Oh. Hi." A nervous laugh came from my throat as I picked myself up. "How'd you two get in?"  
Aaron grinned mischievously. "You know how I taught myself how to pick locks? Turned out Rocket's not all that technologically advanced when it comes to padlocks." I returned the grin, and checked my watch.

"Oh crud! I've only got 18 minutes to get to room #111!" I waved the key in their faces, and started to dash down the hallway again. "C'mon!" I hissed loudly, and they started to follow at a quick jog.

"What's going on?" I glanced at Jeff, who looked positively baffled. "How'd you get that key from Giovanni?"

"Ever seen 'Psych'?"

"Huh?"

"It's a show about a fake psychic who's a detective. Luckily, Giovanni doesn't seem to know I was impersonating Shawn Spencer."

Aaron chuckled from behind me, and I concentrated on finding the right door. I finally spotted it, and quickly jammed the key in. I thrust open the thick metal door, and spotted a girl of about 16 years laying unconscious on the floor. Jeff was staring in horrified shock at her, and shoved past me.

"Ashlee!" he cried, a tear slipping past his eyelid. She had a number of burns and bruises over her body, as well as a nasty-looking collar around her neck. The burns were obviously from electric shocks, and she even appeared slightly thinner. Her six Vulpix tails and two ears had been darkened to an almost black color, and her skin was fairer. I checked my watch.

"We've only got ten minutes! We should try to get her out of here… Jeff? Jeff?"  
He was holding her limp body close to him, practically sobbing. I touched his shoulder gently, and he flinched, not looking up.

"Jeff, I'm sure we can get her help."

"No…" he said softly. "I can't even figure out what's going on, so how do you expect we're going to help her? We can't. We don't even know. I mean, god forbid it, but for all we know, she might be going shadow." Jeff stared at her face for a long time. "Maybe there's still time." He grabbed her around the underarms. "Let's get moving. Aaron, take her legs." My brother nodded, and grabbed her feet. They stood up at the same time so it was like she was on a stretcher. "I saw an emergency exit at the end of this hall. What I'd like to do more than anything is blow this place to bits, but there's no time for that. Most of the grunts are on lunch break around this time, so there's a good possibility we can get out without interference."

Now it was my turn to stare at how much he knew. I shoved away the thought, and propped open the door. The two boys quickly walked out, and I made a point to leave the key in the room when I pushed it shut. It automatically locked from the inside; giving me a kind of contentment in the fact that this would frustrate them. We went as quickly as possible without dropping Ashlee's comatose body. Luck had it, I supposed, that there weren't any Rockets in this particular hall.

Well, at that moment.

"HEY! YOU THREE!"

We all whirled around to see a buff guy in a Rocket uniform staring straight at us. He had to be at least 280 pounds, and all muscle.

"RUN!" I screamed, and we started moving even more quickly. The emergency exit was only a few feet away, but the Rocket was fast as a lightning bolt. I sprinted ahead, slamming open the door. Jeff and Aaron ran out, and suddenly the halls started flashing red lights, sirens going off in mass chaos, and a few sprinklers started showering the halls. I kicked the door shut right as the Rocket was about to slide past it, and bolted after the two boys. We ducked around the side of the building as I spotted six grunts burst from the emergency exit door, searching frantically for "project 1079". Jeff and Aaron set down her body, and my brother pulled out the keyring he had been given earlier.

"Okay, now are you going to tell me what this does?"

"Yes. See the black thingamabob? Press the red button."

He did, and moments later, a hovercar-like machine was speeding into view. It was a silvery, sleek color, with what looked like jet engines where wheels would be. It was emitting steam instead of gasoline, and had four seats.

"Cool, huh? Okay, hop in."

I managed to get out of my state of shock in time to jump in. Aaron and Jeff did likewise, Jeff taking the driver's seat. They grabbed Ashlee's body, setting it as carefully and quickly as possible in the back seat of the hovercar. He punched in a code on the keypad near the steering wheel, and floored the accelerator. The car whipped around, speeding northeast at probably eighty-five miles per hour. Something clanked loudly against the back of the car, and I spotted a Rocket on a floating skateboard gaining on us with a machine gun.

"Jeff… We've got company!" I exclaimed, my voice sounding tight and shrilled. I ducked as a bullet flew over my head and whizzed past Aaron's ear.

"Hang on, I'll try to lose them." He slammed on the brakes, and I nearly flew forward. The car spun in a complete circle, and I heard a loud _THUMP_. I tried to see what had ran into us, but all that was visible was a huge dent on the outside of the trunk. There was a wide smear of blood, and I quickly turned away, calming my breathing. I just hoped that there wasn't a dead body lying on the ground next to a broken hoverboard behind us.

Just a few minutes later, we were back in Saffron city outside of Todd's house. Jeff carefully took Ashlee's body, climbing out of his car and rushing up to the doorstep. His aunt Marcia answered the door, and I saw her eyes widen slightly at seeing her nephew's best friend out cold. She noticed Aaron and I, and motioned for us to come inside. She took the body, scurrying inside. We exchanged glances, and followed them into the house.

Inside their home, the three of us sat on the sofa in the living room, anxiously awaiting the news. Apparently Marcia was a nurse, and offered to at least clean up Ashlee's bruises and maybe get her out of her temporary coma. After ten excruciatingly long minutes, she poked her head out, and Jeff nearly bounced out of his seat. "I couldn't get that darned collar off, but I managed to patch up the bruises and cuts. She's starting to wake up; I'm sure she'd like to see her friends." Marcia smiled in a sad, motherly sort of way.

We peeked into the room, rather cautiously at first. Ashlee was sitting up, obviously still in a good amount of pain.

"Erg… what happened?" she managed to get out.

I nearly fainted in relief. She was still okay, and had control over her mind… for now. She glimpsed around the room, and then at Jeff, who was sitting on the bed beside her. She rested her head on his shoulder, seeming to be quite exhausted.

"Who are you?" she asked, and I felt my pulse skip a beat.

"…A friend."

"But I don't even know you."

"Let's just say I can be a lot of help in this kind of situation." I offered a smile, and she seemed to relax slightly. She winced, rubbing her temples, and fell back on the bed. 

"Actually, there's something I should tell you guys."

Jeff almost snorted sarcastically, his expression growing angry. "What, that Rocket has new technology and they've basically turned you Shadow? We figured that already."

"Unfortunately, I think it's worse."

"_WORSE?!_" Aaron blurted, and I proceeded to smack him across the face.

"Mm-hm. Leigha… my shadow side, as she says… isn't yet strong enough to take over my conscious self. But she's getting stronger with every passing moment. And when she emerges, there's no telling what she might do."

The words frightened me greatly, as did the next thing she said:

"Jeff, maybe it's time to finally put that 'Emergency Master Ball' to work."

His eyes bugged out at her. "WHAT? Ashlee, you're freaking claustrophobic!"

She winced again, the pain growing steadily worse. "This might be our only chance of stopping her! Leigha's getting stronger was we speak, and I think I can handle a few moments of enclosement. Besides, I'd rather have memories of being trapped in my best friend's Master Ball than destroying half the region." She let that sink in, and after a moment, Jeff exited the room to retrieve his Master Ball. Ashlee managed to slip into her Vulpix form, which was almost completely black in color. She looked at herself, and stuck her little tongue out in disgust.

_**Blech! Black really isn't my colour,**_ she remarked telepathically, the thought directed to both Aaron and I. We both laughed at that, despite the situation. Jeff stepped back into the room, a sleek Master Ball in his hand. It was obviously unused and in very good condition.

"You still sure you want to go through with this, Ashlee?" he asked, and she nodded.

_**Positive. Hurry, she's getting stronger!**_

Jeff again hesitated.

_**Would you just get it over with, please?!**_

Her voice sounded panicked now, and she was covering her eyes tightly with her paws. He whispered something like, "Don't make me regret this," and chucked the ball directly at her. It knocked against her body, and she disappeared into the Master Ball in a flash of black light. It rolled back and forth, and made a soft 'ding' noise to know the capture was successful. Jeff sighed, and picked up the Master Ball. "Well, at least that's over."


	4. Chunk 4

Chapter Five: Trouble… Already

**Chapter Eleven: Roadblock!**

We all sat again on the leather sofa, trying to figure out what to do next. Jeff was rolling the Master Ball that had Ashlee – or Leigha, we assumed – around in his hand absentmindedly.

"Well, I do have an idea, but I'm not sure how well it could work."

Aaron and I looked at him, waiting for him to explain it.

"…However, I think it might be best if just Christine goes with me on this mission."

"WHAT?!" my brother exclaimed, a shocked look on his face. "You're just going to go take my little sister on a mission to who-knows-where facing who-knows-what and maybe get her killed and…"

I smacked him across the face, and he stopped going into hysterics. Jeff seemed relieved that he didn't have a teenager yelling in his face now, and went on to finally explain the plan:

"The first thought would be to find a purification plant, of course. That is, if there are any left. Problem is, they were all created at least ten years ago, and I have a feeling this technology is a lot more advanced. Cipher and Rocket obviously have some sort of partnership, and Ashlee got to be the guinea pig. So, in other words, we need to find abolitionists, or at least someone with purification technology. Either that, or Cipher themselves. Now, how we'll convince anyone there to reverse the process is beyond me.  
There is someone I… know, you could say, in Cerulean who might be able to help us out. You know, give us some direction. He knows a _lot_ about Team Rocket, it's just…" He hesitated, eyeing Aaron. "This certain someone isn't exactly sociable."

"Then why are you taking Christine?"

"Because she knows him very well, perhaps better than I do."

My brother then turned to me for an explanation. I knew exactly whom Jeff was talking about, and it made my stomach do a somersault. Luckily, I was a good actress, and managed to pull off a baffled expression. Aaron wasn't buying it at first, but seemed to give up.

"Alright. Just, please, don't let anything happen to her." There was a slight tremble to his voice, and it was softer than usual. "She's all I've got here."

Jeff smiled reassuringly, patting my brother's shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to her. I've got my best team on me for this mission." He took out a scrap of paper from his pocket and scribbled a number down. "This is my cell phone number. In case of emergency, we'll be in eastern Cerulean. While we're out, it'd be awesome if you could try to get anything on Rocket or Cipher. You know how to hack into computers?"

A grin spread across the 16-year-old's face. "I'm pretty good."

"Great. Call me if you find out anything on either of them. I'm not sure how long we'll be out, but we should be back by nightfall or tomorrow morning."

Aaron looked at his watch. "Okay, gotcha. Good luck, guys. And… be careful."

Jeff nodded his thanks for his support, and told me to grab the bag on Kim's bed in her bedroom. He snatched his own from on top of the couch, and headed out the door.  
I met him outside, and saw he was already in the hovercar. "Hop in, there's no time to lose."

I did, and sighed heavily, slouching in the passenger's seat. "I can't believe how insane you are, Jeff. If you and I are thinking the same thing…"

"Christine, you have to trust me on this one. I know what I'm doing." He paused to turn on the hovercar, and lifted off. "Well, at least I hope I do. You don't think Aaron knew who I was talking about, do you?"

I chuckled lightly. "Probably not by a long shot."

About ten minutes later we were gliding down the interstate, and I was surprised to find that _everyone_ seemed to have a hovercar. They were all around the same style as American cars, except the SUVs and Hummers were a bit smaller, and all ran on steam jets. Jeff took out his MP9 player and told me to plug it into the stereo. I did, and was again amazed at how far technology had come: The sound was crystal-clear, and of obvious high quality. I scanned through the menu, and saw a familiar song.

" 'Greased Lightning' from 'Grease' the musical?" I read aloud, and he glanced over.  
"Yeah, the one Ashlee and I were in during our 9th grade year. About the first hovercar that was made in the '50's."

_Wow, even the musicals are different here,_ I thought, and looked in the rearview mirror. "Hey, it looks like someone's tailgating us. I think they're stalkers," I said, squinting in an attempt to see who was behind the wheel of the silver convertible behind us. "And the driver looks like one of Lord Helmet's minions off of 'Spaceballs'."

"What… Oh, _shiznick_," he swore, and veered upwards.

"What are you doing?"

"Those aren't just guys in weird costumes, they're from Cipher."

I felt my gut churn, partially because he was swerving left and right, trying to shoo them off, and partially because the creators of shadow Pokémon were after us.

"How'd they find us?"

He shook his head, and I let out a little scream as a bullet flew past my window. "Someone back at the Rocket base must've seen the license plate and got Cipher to go after us. They're probably after Ashlee."

"Oh, great. Now we've got more crazies after us!" I groaned. A ping-pong ball-sized bullet burst thought the back window, narrowly missing our heads, and continued through the front windshield.

"We're under fire!!" Jeff grabbed his bag and threw it at me. "Grab the raygun."

"The what?!"

"The gun I said wasn't loaded."

I almost yelled at him, but was cut off when something crashed into the back. The car started to shake violently, red lights blaring.

"What's going on?"

"They must've hit the engine with one of their bullets." Jeff slammed his fist on one of the buttons, and the top slid back. He whipped out a silver Pokéball, the same one I had seen yesterday. His Aerodactyl appeared in a flash, and he was on its back in one swift move. "Grab the girl," he ordered, just as the hovercar started to fall. I felt its claws clamp around my torso area, and let myself hang freely. The car fell in a fiery mess, and landed right by the interstate. A steam jet nearly hit a pedestrian's car, and I winced. Oops. "Gimmee the gun!" he yelled, averting my attention

I manage to flip around despite Aero's crunching grip, and tossed it up to him. He aimed it carefully and pulled the trigger. A hi-intensity laser swooshed out like a bullet and impaled the hood of the Ciphers' convertible. The driver now looked extremely 'p-oed' and pulled out an enormous machine gun. My breath caught at the sight of it, and I wriggled out of Aero's death grip so I could peer over the edge.

"Jeff!"

"Not now…" He was continuously firing, trying to hit the machine gun.

"How about-"

"Christine, _shut up!_" he yelled, and realized his gun wasn't firing. "DAMMIT, out of ammo," he roared, and jammed it into his pocket.

"Aero, Hyper Beam!" I called without thinking, and he looked at me.

"Are you nuts?"

Before I could answer, Aero had loosed a white-hot, blinding beam of light from its huge maw. The two men in the car widened their eyes, throwing open their doors and jumping out. The beam hit the gas line a millisecond later, and the car exploded in mid-air, parts flying. They started to plummet towards the highway, but not before one dug out an odd-looking Pokéball. It snapped open below them, revealing an enormous Pokémon…  
Lugia.

Except something wasn't right. Then it hit me. This was no regular Lugia. It had to be…  
"Twilight Lugia."

**Chapter Twelve: Twilight Lugia **

Out of the smoke from the burning car revealed the Twilight Lugia, its bright aqua eyes burning with a vengeance like no other. It was different, one could tell, and not only by its personality. The spikes and body patch were burgundy, and the eyepieces were more jagged and also the dark red. The overall figure was basically the same, except the feathers covering the remainder of the body were tinted darker.

"What is that thing?" Jeff asked, his expression that of growing horror.

"Don't you remember Twilight? You only met her in a million roleplays online!"

He shot me a confused look, and I groaned. "Oh wait. I never finished any of those! Okay, basically, Twilight Lugia was created during a collaboration between Team Rocket and Cipher two years ago. They got Lugia's DNA, and altered it slightly. What was created was a cross between a shiny and shadow Lugia. Whoever possesses that Pokéball…" I gestured to the one the first Cipher on top of the Lugia was holding, "…controls Twilight."

She had turned towards us, eyes dead with fury as directed by her master, which at this time was the Cipher on top.

"She is extremely powerful, more than most regular Lugias. She's near impossible to beat," I continued.

"So how do we get Twilight under control? The weird Pokéball?"

"Yup."

"Fan-tastic,"

Jeff stayed airborne on Aero, and I took Firehorse to do some groundwork. The plan was simple: He and his Aerodactyl would distract her, and I'd try to get a hold on the Mystery Ball. Executing this plan would be a fraction as simple as it was planning. I released the Rapidash, and she looked around.

_**What's going – WHAT-THE-HECK-IS-THAT?! **_she screeched, and almost bolted at seeing Twilight Lugia. I jumped on before she could dart off.

"Less questions, more gallop! We need to get right under her."

_**It's a girl? Oh, great. Females have worse tempers.**_

"But I DO have a plan."

We darted across the field, and I could see Aero was darting around the Lugia swiftly, keeping it sidetracked from seeing me. I halted Firehorse, and yelled as loud as I could, "HEY, BIG BIRD! DOWN HERE!"

Twilight looked down, and started to swoop towards the ground at an incredible speed.  
"One…" I started, and stood up carefully on the Rapidash's back, "…Two…" It was close now, and I concentrated on the tail, "…THREE, RUN!" Twilight's tail swung at me, and I jumped straight onto it. I clung for dear life to one of the spines, and felt my stomach lurch like I was about to throw up. She let out a deafening screech, and I felt my grip slip. I slid down the tail onto the back, and sighed in relief. Okay, part one went well. Her back started arching and twisting, and the spines were harder to hang onto than the tail spikes. Jeff flew on Aero in front of me, and I gave him a half-hearted 'thumbs up' before swinging around. The Cipher whirled around, I assumed the other had dropped off, and yelled something at me. I ran as best as I could on top of a moving Lugia's back to where he was, and tackled him as best as a 14-year-old could. He was obviously pretty muscular under the nerdy costume, and made an attempt to throw me off. I swung my shoe as hard as possible right into his crotch, and he made an ugly sound, swearing loudly. I grabbed the Mystery Ball, which he had dropped, and looked up at Jeff. Now, all I had to do was jump off, and he'd catch me, and-

"GET BACK HERE!" the Cipher roared, grabbing my ankle. Twilight made another lurch, and he let go. I lost grip of the ball, and it rolled off of her back. I flailed for a spine, and managed to grab one. He jammed his foot onto my hand, and I cried out in pain, losing my grip.

_This is the end,_ I thought, falling off. _I let Jeff down, and Ashlee, and her uncle, and my brother, and I'll die in a foreign land with…_

I opened my eyes, and realized the wind wasn't rushing past me. Something was wrapped tightly around my waist though… Claws. Feathery claws. I leaned my head back, twisting my neck, and saw Jeff with the hugest grin on his face. The foot swung around as the rest of the body twisted, and I finally recognized it was Twilight's. I was able to see that she was finally back to her senses for the most part, and was trying to get the Cipher off. She let out an even more treacherous screech, making my ears ring painfully. A small orb of light appeared in her mouth, getting bigger and brighter by the millisecond. The Cipher swore again, louder, and launched himself off of the Lugia's back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aero do a nosedive, Jeff jumping as they both got safely out of the way. An enormous beam of light evicted itself from Twilight's mouth, and I was still able to feel its heat and force from below. I heard an inhumane cry, most likely from the Cipher, and didn't bother to look to see what happened to his body. Her grip started to loosen in weakness, and I slipped out. Aero caught me safely with both claws, and we watched as the giant Pokémon crashed to the ground.

We rushed over to Twilight, and he ran around to where her neck is, and put his hand on it. I assumed that's where one of the major arteries was, and he was checking for a pulse.  
"Well, she's stable, at least. Just fainted from weakness." He licked his lips, and took out his cell phone. "I'll try to see if I can get any help on hold, you stay with her."

Jeff walked off, dialing a number, and I sat next to Twilight, hoping she'd be okay. After a couple minutes, she opened up an eye and winced in pain.

_**What… happened…?**_

The female voice, maybe about 20 years old in human years, slid across the top of my mind, clearer than with other Pokémon. The Lugia noticed the Mystery Ball, and then looked at me. My hair must've still been tossed and windblown, and there must have been scratches on my arms and legs from the spikes.

_**Cipher, right? That's who was controlling me?**_

I hesitated, and then slowly nodded. I was lost for words. There was one the most powerful Pokémon in the entire world about 6 inches away from me, and I didn't even know what to say.

"But, they weren't alone. I think I heard that they were getting into some sort of partnership with Team Rocket."

_**With who?**_

I then remembered that Twilight couldn't remember anything from when she was being controlled.

"They're a lot like Cipher, only they work with more things than just Shadowing. More like a group of raiding parties… and conductors of insane experiments," I added dryly, feeling a sort of rage start to boil up in me. The ground shook slightly, and I could see that she was starting to stand up. I stood, and looked at her.

"Are you strong enough to even move, much less fly?"

_**The effects are beginning to wear off, and I feel my strength returning.**_

Jeff ran up behind me, panting. "No service. Apparently the wires are down, but… it looks like… she's doing… better," he said, slowing down as he watched Twilight get up. "Wow. Looks even bigger on land."

The Lugia looked quizzically from Jeff to me, and I had a 'duh' moment.

"Oh, um, I'm Christine, and this is Jeff."

She nodded. _**Nice to meet both of you. And thank you for saving me. I'm-**_

"Twilight," I interrupted. "Yeah, I've… heard of you."

She looked at me skeptically, but seemed to push the thought away. Jeff looked at his watch, and gasped.

"Jesus Christ, it's already 5:00!" He then searched for his car, and then remembered it was the pile of broken parts sitting off to the side of the highway. He groaned loudly, burying his face in his hands. "My CAR!!" he mumbled into his hands, acting like it was his most prized possession. Twilight lowered her eyes in shame again, and I patted her neck.

"Oh, you didn't do that. That was one of Cipher's machine guns. Jeff knew it was coming."

"…It was my sweet sixteen birthday gift…"

The Lugia perked her head up, looking at Jeff and I. _**Well, was there somewhere you needed to go?**_

We exchanged glances, and I carefully replied, "Actually, yeah. Northern Cerulean City, just north of here."

_**Maybe I could give you two a ride there. As an apology.**_

Jeff shouted, "NO!" at the same time as I exclaimed, "That's be awesome!" He gave me a warning look, and I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on. What's the hurt? She's obviously a good flier, and your Aerodactyl's nearly fainted."

_**And I can get you there faster than any old car could on the interstate.**_

Twilight dropped down onto her belly so I could get on, and I situated myself against a spike.

"Hey, Jeff! Hurry up, we don't have all day!"

He sighed in defeat, trudging over and hopping on top. The 17-year-old sat directly behind me, between a different set of spikes. "Don't make me regret this…"

_**Okay, you two, hang on,**_ she advised one last time, standing up a little straighter and pushing off with both legs. Her powerful wings pushed past the air, and the wind whipped my hair and face as the Lugia accelerated slightly, rising higher into the sky. I dared a glance back at Jeff, and caught him with a grin on his face.

Next stop, Cerulean City.

**Chapter Thirteen: Step One: Get Help **

As we were gliding atop one of the air currents, Twilight glanced back.

_**So, why did you two need to get to Cerulean, anyways?**_

"Just some guy," I said quickly.

_**There's about half a million 'guys' there. Can I get a name?**_

"Just a friend," Jeff answered from behind me. The Lugia glanced back again, and I noticed a little twinkle in her eyes.

_Oh, no,_ I thought uneasily, _That's the nosy twinkle._

_**Oh, a friend?**_

"Actually," I said, acting a bit smug, "there's this girl in Cerulean that Jeff wants to meet."

"WHAT?!" he yelled, and I quickly slung the back of my shoe into his shin so he'd shut up and play along. "I mean, uh, yeah. I found her on… uh… teen dating dot com."

_**Oh… I see… Humans sure have weird ways of finding love.**_

"Nah, only Jeff," I explained brightly, and this time he kicked me in the leg.

_**Why do you two keep kicking each other and giving quickly surprised looks? Are you hiding something?**_ she asked.

"No!" we both insisted, plastering fake smiles on our faces. He and I were both bad liars, and Twilight could obviously tell. I found myself regretting the fact that that was one of the things I had made him and I have in common. Twilight still seemed curious, but dropped the matter, changing the subject.

_**That looks like it might be Cerulean,**_ she observed, and started to angle towards a forest directly west of the heart of the city. 

She landed in the forest, and lay down so we could slip off easily. I hugged her neck tightly, and she wrapped a wing around me, pulling Jeff in too.

_**Aw, I'm gonna miss you guys. Do you think we'll meet again?**_

"If the fates align," Jeff drawled overdramatically, posing very Shakespeare-edly. Twilight and I started to crack up laughing our heads off at that, and eventually the chuckles settled into sad smiles.

"We should probably get going," he said, having to practically drag me away from the Lugia in front of us.

"Wait!" I exclaimed, and remembered I still had a necklace I had had on back on Earth with me. I unclipped it from my neck, and then put it around Twilight's tail. "So you'll always remember us, you get my necklace," I explained, backing off again.

_**You guys… Thank you, Christine. That was really nice of you.**_ She lifted her wings, preparing for flight, and looked back at us one more time. _**Now I'll never forget you two for sure! Bye, I hope we meet again!**_

We watched in silence, waving, as she took off into the blue sky, her feathers shining in the sun. Jeff and I stood there, smiling, until our friend disappeared over the horizon. He cleared his throat, tugging on my sleeve. I blinked out of my trance-like state of mind, shaking my head out.

"Sorry. I'm just gonna… miss her."

"Yeah, me too. But right now, we've got business to cover. Come on, we should try to make it into the cave before nightfall."

I nodded in agreement, and we started out of the forest and towards the western cave of Cerulean City; a place of champions, trainers, and hopeful Pokémon masters:

The Unknown Dungeon.

"You go in first."

"No, you."

"Jeff, you're the one with the Pokémon _and_ you've been through this cave a million times. Now, please, _go,_" I insisted, trying to push him into the entrance. He gave in, releasing the resistance and jogging into the cave.

"All right, all right, I'll go…" he replied angrily, shooting me with a fierce look. He fished through his sack, and pulled out his Umbreon's ball, letting Midnight out. "Midnight, Flash."

The Umbreon closed his eyes in concentration, and then started to glow slightly, like a lantern. It wasn't a lot of light, but sufficient for travel.

"Cool, a walking lantern," I laughed, and stopped when Midnight growled slightly. "So, anyways, let's go over the plan."

"Right. Okay, so we go in, talk to the big guy, get some answers, get out of here."  
"Can I get an autograph?"

"_What?!_"

"Never mind. So, we ask about the purifying plant thingy…"

"…A Purify Chamber…"

"…And where to find it."

Jeff stopped, exhaling heavily, staring straight ahead.

"What?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"What if we traveled all the way here for nothing? He could be anywhere."

One hour and three Dittos, two Gravelers, and one rabid Onix later, we gave up and collapsed against the northern wall of the cave. Midnight nearly fainted next to us, being only about level forty.

_**I am never going in here again,**_ the Umbreon vowed, and started to gingerly clean one of the cuts on his leg. Jeff patted his Pokémon with a slight smile.

"You fought well."

I slumped against the wall feebly, staring off into space. "Forget it. We'll never find him."

"Oh yeah?"

I shifted my eyes momentarily in his direction. "What are you getting at?" I asked dryly.  
"It's not that hard for Pokémon to track other Pokémon down…" he said with a smile, and reached for what looked like thin air. He frowned, and started to look around where we were. My stomach did a somersault of nervousness.

"Jeff, what's going on?"

"I don't know, I could have sworn I set my backpack down right here; the one with all our supplies."

"Ashlee was in there…" I moaned distressedly, jumping up and helping him look around. He kept murmuring something like, "…I'll find her, I'll find her…" over and over.  
"I'm gonna kill whoever stole that backpack," I vowed through gritted teeth, trying to keep my head clear.

_**That is a very profound statement, human.**_

The words glided across my mind like dry ice, sending a chill down my spine. My head snapped up, eyes wide, scanning as far into the cave as I could in the darkness. My pulse picked up another beat per minute, but I couldn't see _anything_.

_Okay, Christine, calm down, you probably imagined that…_ I thought, closing my eyes and taking some deep breaths.

_**Don't lie to yourself. You know what you imagined and what you didn't.**_

Now I was officially freaked out. "Jeff," I called weakly, and he looked over.  
"What?"

"There's something in here. It knows how to read minds."

He stood up straight, facing me, and stopped before saying anything. Even in the darkness I could see his face pale slightly.

"What? What is it?"

He wasn't looking at me, I suddenly realized, he was looking _behind_ me. My first impulse was to run for it. However, it was my second impulse that I followed… I whirled around, swinging my leg out, and it was grabbed just as quickly, and I lost my balance, falling squarely on my bottom. It didn't hurt a lot, but my breath was taken away by the surprise. I opened my eyes, and gasped.

_**You two have been searching for me for quite some time now,**_ the creature in front of me said telepathically. I couldn't peel my eyes away.

"Yeah… Mewtwo."

**A Whole New World: 11** by roleplay4life

Chapter Eleven: Roadblock!   
We all sat again on the leather sofa, trying to figure out what to do next. Jeff was rolling the Master Ball that had Ashlee – or Leigha, we assumed – around in his hand absentmindedly.   
"Well, I do have an idea, but I'm not sure how well it could work." Aaron and I looked at him, waiting for him to explain it. "…However, I think it might be best if just Christine goes with me on this mission." "WHAT?!" my brother exclaimed, a shocked look on his face. "You're just going to go take my little sister on a mission to who-knows-where facing who-knows-what and maybe get her killed and

Drag and Drop to Collect


End file.
